Aztec Energy Creates Jobs

August 6, 2012

CONYERS, Ga. — Aztec Energy, a member of the Danfoss Group and provider of energy management and controls solutions for the food retail industry, provided refrigeration controls training for California’s successful EnergySmart Jobs program, helping to generate more than 62 million kWh of energy savings and create 119 jobs since the program began in 2010.

The EnergySmart Jobs program is an initiative of Energy Upgrade California, administered by PECI and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and California Energy Commission (CEC). The 18-month program was designed to answer California’s immediate need for job creation, facilitate long-term energy savings, and encourage new technology adoption.

Specifically, the EnergySmart Jobs program trained 132 employees of the California Conservation Corp. as energy surveyors and sent them out to conduct energy surveys of California businesses that rely on refrigeration systems — typically grocery and convenience stores. Participating contractors then worked with these stores to install energy-efficiency retrofits based on opportunities identified in the surveys. The program also provided rebates and incentives to help lower the cost of these retrofit projects.

Critical to the success of the program, Aztec developed the “step-by-step on how to install and program refrigeration controls” portion of the controls training, which included hands-on experience with actual energy management systems, including those manufactured by Danfoss. According to Theresa Joyal, Aztec’s international business development manager and training coordinator for the program, Aztec presented eight refrigeration controls training sessions throughout the state of California, training between 40 and 50 contractors on the technology. The training was required for those wishing to participate in the EnergySmart Jobs program.

Aztec was later selected to also serve the program as the “preferred equipment supplier” for controls, which enabled the company to work closely with contractors to outfit stores with energy-saving refrigeration controls.

During the 18 months since the program started, EnergySmart Jobs has disbursed more than $10.1 million in incentives to California businesses and created 118 direct jobs and 265 jobs in equivalent job years. The federal government tracks job creation using the conversion rate of $92,000 of spending equals one job year created.